Here's a letter I wrote on Sandi Martinez' immoral position on abortion and birth control. It was published in the Chelmsford Independent on Sept. 28th, 2006. (You have to scroll down to read it.)

Another area where Sandi Martinez’ platform displays a lack of compassion is in unyielding opposition to abortion. The decision to have an abortion is an extremely difficult one, and all reasonable people would like to see fewer abortions. So why make it difficult for women to avoid pregnancy?

 

As state chair of the Concerned Women for American (CWA), Martinez has worked hard for years to deny accurate education about the effectiveness of contraceptives and instead emphasize abstinence until marriage (the average age of marriage in the US is now 25). Abstinence should be taught, but abstinence-only education leaves students so misinformed about the effectiveness of contraceptives that when they do become sexually active, studies have shown they are more likely to more likely to contract a disease or become pregnant.

 

If Martinez were to implement her platform, even many adults would be denied access to birth control. Victims of rape would be unable to get the morning after pill. This pill does not force an abortion, it prevents pregnancy. Pharmacists could refuse to provide birth control to single women, or morning after pills to any women, out of “conscience”.  Victims of incest would have to get their parent’s permission to not carry the child to term. These are all positions that Martinez has endorsed and promoted through the CWA.

 

While we may never come to agreement between pro-life and pro-choice advocates, we should expect our leaders to exhibit compassion and work hard to prevent unwanted pregnancies. We should tell candidates like Sandi Martinez not to use legislation to impose a narrow view of sin and sexuality on everyone else.